Fibrous roofing material



April 9, 1940. A. e. LEONARD. JR

FiBROUS 1200mm MATERIAL Filed Oct. 11, 1937 k i- :Jll-illliill i:liilwlfili I- Patented Apr. 9, 1940 PATENT OFFICE FIBROUS ROOFING MATERIAL Arthur G. Leonard, Jr., Wilmington, 111., assignor to The Lehon Company, Chicago, 11]., a corporation of Illinois Application October 11, 1937, Serial No. 168,346

11 Claims.

The invention relates to fabricated strip shingles having a base of felted fibrous material and more particularly to a method of producing shingles of that type which will have a relatively thick butt end portion by reason of greater asphalt saturation of this end as compared with the head lap portion.

Thefelted material forming the base of the present shingles is produced in sheet form and is passed through the shingle making machine as a continuous web. The web is first thoroughly saturated with a water-proofing material such as low melt-point asphalt and is then coated on both sides with a layer of high melt-point oxidized asphalt for weather-proofing said saturated base and for securely bonding the mineral granules which are subsequently applied to at least one surface of the coated material. The mineral granules protect the asphalt coating from the effects of the weather and also perform other useful functions such as adding to the decorative appearance of the roofing element. When the mineral granules are applied to only one side of the shingle, the other surface is generally dusted with talc or sprinkled with mica flakes.

Felted fibrous material for roofing purposes as heretofore manufactured has been of uniform quality as regards its absorption properties transversely of the sheet and therefore upon saturation of the sheet the absorption has been substantially the same throughout. The invention is based on the concept that it is not necessary to have the same high content of asphaltin the upper ,or head lap portion of the'shingle as exists in. the exposed or butt portion thereof. In the manufacture of the present shingle the above,

enumerated steps are followed in the order mentioned but the roofing elements difier from fabricated shingles as heretofore produced in the ability of different portions of the base to absorb asphalt or similar water-proofing compounds. According to the invention the fibrousweb is treated while in a wet state and before all the water has drained therefrom to form treated which will alternate with untreated portions of substantially equal width. This treatment is such as to render the web hard and dense, therebybands or areas longitudinally of the web andaltduring saturation than the vide an improved roofing material which will produce fabricated strip shingles having improved insulating qualities, greater durability and which will be better adapted for roofing buildings, homes or the like.

Another object of the invention resides in producing roofing felt having portions capable of an asphalt saturation to a degree considerably greater than portions adjacent thereto and which will therefore result in tapered shingles having a 10 relatively thick butt end portion.

With these and various other objects in view, the invention may consist of certain novel features of construction and operation, as will be more fully described and particularly pointed out 16 in the specification, drawing and claims appended hereto.

In the drawing which illustrates an embodiment of the invention and wherein like reference characters are used to designate like parts- 20 Figure 1 is a plan view of a section of felted fibrous material having treated and untreated widths in accordance with the invention;

Figure 2 is a plan view showing one form of strip shingle which may be produced from the 25 present roofing material; and

Figure 3 is an elevational view looking toward one side of the shingle showing the relatively thick butt end portion.

In the manufacture of roofing felt a mix- 30 ture of approximately 5 per cent fibrous material and 95 per cent water is discharged by a Fourdririier machine onto the surface of an endless horizontal wire web or screen. These machines are well known in the paper making art for pro- 35 ducing a continuous web by draining the water from the fibrous material while retaining thesame on the screen. At this point in the manufacture of the roofing material a solution of water soluble rosin and a suitable sizing such as alum 40 is applied to the web in longitudinal strips as will be better understood by reference to Figure 1, wherein l0 indicates a web of roofing material. The treated portions are indicated by B which alternate with untreated portions indicated by 45 A. It will be noted that the treated widths B are spaced inwardly a distance from the side edges of the web so as to leave an untreated area or strip of substantially,one-halftheir width. The extent of the treated and untreated portions as re- 50 gards their width is determined by the size of the resulting shingle to be made from the continuous web. For purposes of illustration it may be assumed that a shingle 12 inches in height is to be manufactured and that such a shingle will have approximately a 5 inch exposed portion and a 7 inch head lap portion. For such a shingle the web will be treated in widths of approxi mately 12 inches. The arrangement of the treated and untreated portions has been selected in order to conserve material in the final cutting of the web to produce the strip shingles. As each shingle includes an exposed end and a head lap portion the felted fibrous base of said shingle must therefore have an untreated portion and a treated portion. The web is therefore severed along lines indicated by numeral ll forming shingle strips each of which will consist of a treated and untreated portion approximately 6 inches in width respectively.

The solution of water soluble rosin and alum produces a hard, dense web as the alum reacts in a manner to harden the water soluble rosin. In the treated portions, the web can be described as having greater density than the web of the untreated portion adjacent thereto which is soft and porous. Although the web as a whole becomes saturated in the manufacture of the shingles, nevertheless the saturation will vary transversely of the web according to the extent of the treated and untreated areas. It will be understood that these areas may vary greatly in width and it is not necessary that they have equal width as shown in Figure 1. In the manufacture of a 14 inch shingle the web may have treated portions of 16 inches with untreated portions of approximately 12 inches.

It is possible to produce a web for roofing purposes as above described by other methods. For example, the fibrous material comprising the treated and untreated portions of the web may be compounded and mixed separately, the raw ingredients of each being selected to give the desired density in the resulting web. Following the compounding of the fibrous material for the several portions the same is extruded or discharged onto a screen or wire web to permit the water to drain while retaining the material thereon. It is immaterial that the several extruded portions or strips are separate and independent since they are in a wet state and as further operations take place the several strips can be bonded to form a continuous web similar in all respects to that disclosed in Figure 1.

The fibrous ingredient of the present roofing material is derived largely from rags, asbestos and the like and in the sizing of the material to produce the hard dense portions of relatively low asphalt saturation many materials in addition to alum may be used. For example, clay, casein, starch, sulphate of alumina, sulphur and glue have been found satisfactory as sizing materials.

The shingle shown in Figures 2 and 3 is characteristic of that resulting from the use of the roofin material of the invention. The shingle indicated generally by numeral I2 is surfaced with mineral granules H on the exposed butt portion thereof only. This shingle is of the tabless type and accordingly the exposed butt portion is corrugated at It to simulate individual shingles. The corrugations fulfill the functions of the cut-out portions in the tab shingles in providing for expansion and contraction but eliminate the objectionable features of cut-outs as they tend to weaken the shingle. Although the head lap portion i8 is shown as devoid of grit surfacing this area of the shingle may be surfaced by a very thin layer of fine mineral granules or by mica flakes, depending on the character of shingle desired.

The felted fibrous base of the shingle of F18- ure 2 consists of an untreated portion identified as A and a treated portion B, the same having been cut from. a strip C, Figure 1. During saturation of the fibrous material the treated portion A being soft and porous will absorb asphalt to approximately 190 to 200 per cent, whereas portion B, being relatively hard and dense, will become saturated to approximately 150 to 160 per cent. The increased saturation of the portion A will produce a much thicker base which is desired for the butt end of the shingle. The thick butt and construction gives an appearance of substantial thickness to the roof as a whole since shadow lines are produced, particularly when the sun is shining on the roof. Also the shingle will efllciently fulfill all requirements of service and will have the further desirable advantage over fabricated shingles as heretofore produced in that they weigh approximately thirty pounds less per square. This reduced weight of the shingle results from the reduction in area which is grit surfaced with mineral granules and also from the fact that the shingle as a whole contains less asphalt. The production cost of the present shingle compares favorably with the cost of manufacturing the usual fabricated strip shingles since the manufacturing steps in producing the felted material capable of selective saturation are relatively simple and do not present any difficulties.

The invention is not to be limited to or by details of construction of the particular embodiment thereof illustrated by the drawing, as various other forms of the device will of course be apparent to those skilled in the art without departing from the spirit of the invention or the scope of the claims.

What is claimed is:

l. A roofing material, comprising a felted fibrous sheet having alternating hard dense portions and relatively soft porous portions extending longitudinally of the sheet.

2. A roofing material comprising a felted fibrous sheet having alternating hard dense portions'and relatively soft porous portions extending longitudinally of the sheet, said portions each having a width depending on the size of the shingles to be cut from said sheet.

3. A roofing material comprising a felted fibrous sheet in the form of a continuous web,

said web transversely thereof having alternating d hard dense portions and relatively soft porous portions of substantially the same width as the hard dense portions, said portions extending longitudinally of the web and marginal soft porous portions also extending longitudinally along the sides of the web of substantially one-half the width of the first mentioned soft porous portions.

4. A roofing material comprising a felted fibrous sheet, said sheet transversely thereof comprising a plurality of portions containing sizing rendering the material thereof hard and of relatively high density, said hard portions alternating with untreated areas which are therefore relatively soft and porous, and said portions and areas respectively extending longitudinally of the sheet and having a width depending on the size of the shingles to be cut from said sheet.

5. A roofing material comprising a felted fibrous sheet in the form of a continuous web, said web transversely thereof comprising portions containing sizing rendering the same hard and of relatively high density, said portions alternating with untreated areas which are therefore relatively soft and porous, said portions and areas extending longitudinally of the web and a marginal soft porous strip also extending longit'udinally along the sides of the web, said marginal soft porous strips having a width substantions containing sizing rendering the material hard and of relatively high density, said portions alternating with untreated areas of relatively soft porous material, said portions and areas extending longitudinally of the web, and a marginal soft porous strip extending along the sides of web, said marginal porous strips having a width substantially one-half that of said soft porous areas and said web forming a plurality of shingle strips upon cutting the web along lines centrally of each full-width portion and area. 1

7. A roofing material comprising a felted fibrous sheet in the form of a continuous web, said web transversely thereof comprising portions containing sizing rendering the material hard and of relatively high density, said portions alternating with untreated areas of relatively soft porous material and said portions being spaced inwardly from the sides of the web by marginal soft porous strips which in addition to said portions and areas extend longitudinally of the web.

8. A roofing material comprising a felted fibrous sheet in the form of a continuous web, said sheet transversely thereof comprising portions containing sizing rendering the material hard and of relatively high density, said portions being spaced transversely of the web so as to alternate with untreated areas of relatively soft porous material and being spaced inwardly from the sides of the web by marginal soft porous strips having a width substantially one half that of said soft porous areas, said web forming a plurality of shingle strips upon cutting the web along lines centrally of each portion and area.

9. A roofing f elt characterized by widths .of hard dense material of low absorption alternating with widthsfif soft porous material of high absorption transversely of the sheet and which extends longitudinally whereby portions of said 'rooflng felt become saturated to a different extent when immersed in the water proofing compound.

10. A roofing felt characterized by widths of hard dense material alternating with widths of soft porous material transversely of the sheet of hard dense material and soft porous material transversely of the sheet and which upon saturation will absorb diiferent amounts of the saturating compound, the soft porous widths absorbing the greater amount of said compound and thereby having a greater thickness after saturation. W

ARTHUR G. LEONARD. JR. 

